The now forcibly retired blog about: Photography, Life and the occasional UFO...

Monday, October 1, 2012

Petrochemical America- Richard Misrach

Petrochemical America: Picturing Cancer Alley is the latest opus from Richard Misrach (in conjunction with Kate Orff) that concentrates on the oil producing area round bayou way. Mr. Misrach does little on a small scale- even his little P&S photos of Katrina were printed extra large in Destroy This Memory. But this current exercise goes well beyond bludgeoning with sheer size- this is his full steam ahead, leave no stone unturned, grand thesis of a visual and informative tour de force. Not only does he seduce us with some of his incredible large format images, but we're also treated to some incredible graphics that break down and portray just about everything concerning petrochemicals and their relationship to: health, environment and economy- and we're talking in depth and detailed! Spectacular color diagrams (near works of art themselves) that demonstrate how those insidious chemicals affect flora and fauna, land and water, air and climate, man... and his future present.

It ain't cheap, but ya get what ya pay for- a visual feast and a pretty thorough education.